2015 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Round 4
Scoring: This mock draft is based on standard-scoring fantasy football leagues for the 2015 season only (i.e., not keeper or dynasty leagues). Passing touchdowns are worth four points while rushing and receiving touchdowns are worth six points. In addition, one point is earned per 25 passing yards, 10 rushing yards and 10 receiving yards.Mock Draft Start Date: Saturday, May 9th
Mock Draft End Date: Friday, May 22nd
Four of our site's contributors — Kevin Hanson, Brendan Donahue, Sean Beazley and Dan Yanotchko — will make picks for three teams of this 12-team mock. The mock will go 12 rounds with no kickers or team defenses selected.
Although this is a slow draft, we will post picks as they occur, along with comments from Kevin Hanson, as opposed to waiting for the entire mock draft to be completed.
More Rounds: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Teams | Positions
Here are the Round 4 results of our 2015 Fantasy Football Mock Draft:
4.01 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 3): Andre Ellington, RB, Arizona Cardinals
The good news is that Ellington averaged more than 20 touches per game last season. The bad news is that Ellington averaged more than 20 touches per game last season. Given Ellington's size (5-9, 199), it's not a huge (no pun intended) surprise that Ellington was unable to hold up for a full season and he missed the final four regular-season games of the year.
With the substantial bump in workload in his second season, Ellington underwhelmed as his yards-per-carry average plummeted from a league-best 5.5 YPC as a rookie to 3.3 YPC on 201 carries last season. Instead of feeding Ellington 20 to 25 touches per game, he would be better suited for a change-of-pace role with 12 to 15 touches per game although comments from Bruce Arians suggest that Ellington could see a similar volume of touches (while healthy). The Cards used a third-round pick on David Johnson, who's a bigger back and also possesses excellent receiving skills.
4.02 - Kevin Hanson (Team 3): Kelvin Benjamin, WR, Carolina Panthers
Along with Mike Evans and Odell Beckham, Benjamin was one of three rookie 1,000-yard receivers in 2014. Like Evans, Benjamin is a big-bodied (6-5, 240) receiver that wins in the red zone. As a rookie, Benjamin was the focal point of the passing attack along with tight end Greg Olsen and he should only see his stream of targets increase in his sophomore campaign. That said, Benjamin will need to cut down on the drops as only Mohamed Sanu (14) had more drops than Benjamin (11) last season, according to PFF.
4.03 - Sean Beazley (Team 3): Giovani Bernard, RB, Cincinnati Bengals
Sean has a pair of stud receivers -- Odell Beckham and Dez Bryant -- and Russell Wilson, a top-three fantasy quarterback, but the sacrifice is having Bernard as his RB1. That said, there are a few running backs, such as Justin Forsett and Jonathan Stewart, that I would prefer over Bernard at this spot.
Settling back into a change-of-pace role behind Jeremy Hill, Bernard is better-suited to be a fantasy team's second back as well. Even with Hill going over 100 yards on large workloads in the team's final three regular-season games, Bernard still finished as the weekly RB11, RB17 and RB13, respectively, in standard-scoring formats. It would make sense for Sean to load up on running back in the upcoming middle rounds in hopes of hitting on one that could turn out to be an RB1 type.
4.04 - Sean Beazley (Team 2): Emmanuel Sanders, WR, Denver Broncos
In his first season with the Broncos, Sanders blew his previous career highs out of the water. With previous career highs set in 2013 of 67/740/6, Sanders finished with 101 receptions for 1,404 yards and nine touchdowns. Even though Sanders is a better option in point-per-reception (PPR) formats, he's a solid mid-tier WR2 option in standard-scoring leagues heading into 2015.
4.05 - Brendan Donahue (Team 3): Justin Forsett, RB, Baltimore Ravens
Arguably the biggest surprise in fantasy football last season, Forsett scored more fantasy points than all but seven other running backs in 2014. While it's a positive that Forsett re-signed with the Ravens, Lorenzo Taliaferro should see a larger share of the workload and the Ravens also drafted USC's Buck Allen.
That said, Forsett rushed for a career-high 1,266 yards last season and averaged an RB-high 5.4 YPC while adding 44 receptions for 263 yards. With Marc Trestman hired as the team's new offensive coordinator, Forsett should finish with another career high in receptions, at least, as Matt Forte set the position record last season under Trestman.
With Forte, C.J. Anderson and Forsett as his team's three running backs and Hilton at receiver, I like how this team is shaping up for Brendan.
4.06 - Brendan Donahue (Team 2): Jonathan Stewart, RB, Carolina Panthers
The long wait from Stewart's fantasy owners for him to be the featured guy is finally here. Over the final five games of the season, Stewart, who recently turned 28, rushed for 486 yards on 91 carries (5.34 YPC) and only DeMarco Murray (491) had more rushing yards during that span. With DeAngelo Williams now in Pittsburgh and only fifth-rounder Cameron Artis-Payne added to the backfield, it appears that the team finally recognizes that The Daily Show gives their offense the best opportunity for success.
4.07 - Kevin Hanson (Team 2): Jordan Matthews, WR, Philadelphia Eagles
In his first season in the league, Matthews finished with top-25 fantasy production of 67 receptions for 872 yards and eight touchdowns. Playing just 65.0 percent of the team's offensive snaps as a rookie, that ratio will spike in his second season as the team lost Jeremy Maclin via free agency. Even if the Eagles were able to re-sign Maclin, I would have expected Matthews to play in two-WR sets ahead of Riley Cooper, who played in 81.7 percent of offensive snaps.
4.08 - Kevin Hanson (Team 1): Brandon Marshall, WR, New York Jets
A lot went wrong for Marshall and the Bears offense last season as he missed multiple games, was limited in others, Jay Cutler struggled and was benched, there was a rift between Marshall and Cutler, etc. Marshall posted his lowest totals for receptions (61) and yards (721) since his rookie season, but he was traded to the Jets in the offseason and gets a fresh start. A return to his 2012 or 2013 numbers are unlikely, but I expect a bounce-back season of more than 1,000 yards. Before last year, Marshall had seven consecutive 1,000-yard seasons.
4.09 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 2): Joique Bell, RB, Detroit Lions
Scoring the 14th-most fantasy points among running backs in 2014, Bell finished with 223 carries for 860 yards, both of which were career highs, as well as 34 receptions for 322 yards and eight total touchdowns. The addition of second-rounder Ameer Abdullah puts Bell's role as a featured back in jeopardy, but I still expect him to lead the team in touches for at least the 2015 season.
4.10 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 1): Amari Cooper, WR, Oakland Raiders
No rookie receiver is more pro-ready than Cooper, the first Biletnikoff winner in Alabama history, and racked up 124 receptions for 1,727 yards and 16 touchdowns last season. Cooper should become Derek Carr's go-to receiver immediately for a team that ranked fourth in the league in pass attempts per game (39.3) in 2014.
4.11 - Brendan Donahue (Team 1): Sammy Watkins, WR, Buffalo Bills
Watkins finished his rookie campaign with 65 receptions for 982 yards and six touchdowns. While Watkins had four 100-yard games including a career-high 157 yards against his new head coach's former team, he also had nine games with 35 receiving yards or less. In a run-first offense with a less-than-ideal quarterback situation, there will likely be plenty of weekly inconsistency from Watkins even though I think his overall numbers will improve on a year-over-year basis.
4.12 - Sean Beazley (Team 1): Keenan Allen, WR, San Diego Chargers
While his receptions increased from 71 to 77 in 2014, Allen's yardage (1,046 to 783) and touchdowns (eight to four) both dropped and he finished as only the 48th-highest scoring wide receiver last season. Turning just 23 in April, Allen should have a bounce-back season in 2015.
> Continue to Round 5 of our fantasy football mock draft
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